Why I'm Alive
by MazokuYusuke
Summary: Itachi used the last of the power in his Mangekyo Sharingan to do two things: to gift Sasuke with the necessary strength to stay alive, and to erase all of his own memories. He thought he would at least die in peace, but he was wrong.
1. Chapter 1

There was something sweet in the air. It was a chalky kind of sweet, different from the sweet smell of a bakery. It was also on the metalic side.

When breathed in, the air stabbed at Itachi's lungs. He coughed sourly, and there was some cold liquid on his lips. He couldn't taste it. He didn't really want to.

He moved his fingers a little, which were very stiff. It hurt a little, but he tried not to think about it. As long as he could move, he felt more comfortable with himself.

Itachi's lips were dry, and his face was cold. He tried to open his eyes, but when he felt they were open, the world was still black. His eyes started to water, which made Itachi start to feel warm. He could move the fingers of his right arm, so he tried to pull the arm closer to himself. The joint was extremely stiff, and Itachi couldn't really muster the willpower to do it. He let the arm lay where it was, barely moved.

He was on his side, it seemed. His left side. His other arm must be under him. He couldn't really feel it yet, but he was starting to feel his toes and legs. He couldn't move them at all, but feeling them was enough to calm him.

Itachi listened for anything around him. He could hear some chirping birds not far from him. He could hear the fluttering of leaves and wings. He tried to turn his head a little, but it didn't exactly work. He got to smell to some pine now. As his sense of smell returned slowly to him, he could smell the workings of a live forest around him.

His mouth was slowly becoming less and less dry. He could taste the liquid in his mouth now. It tasted old and metallic, to the extreme. He wanted to spit, but he didn't really feel like spitting on himself right now. Instead, he tried to open his eyes again. Still, there was only black. As much as his eyes watered, he still couldn't see.

Itachi pulled his legs in closer to him after a while. They were painful and stiff, but he could move them. Movement finally came to his arm, and soon he was curled up in a ball. He could hear so many sounds and smell the forest and animals close to him, and he could move. Cautiously, he rolled over onto his back, allowing blood back to his other arm. Leaves crunched under him. When he breathed in deeply, his lungs slowly expanded. It was becoming easier to breathe, although he throat was sore. It didn't concern him though. He still couldn't see, but he could tell it was daytime because of the birds.

His mind began speaking clearly the longer he just laid there. There were many forests, everywhere, all over the world. So, where was he last he remembered?

But as hard as he tried, he just couldn't remember. He was starting to feel warmth on his face, and he guessed it was sunlight, probably coming through the trees. The sun helped Itachi feel more refreshed. It was the boost he needed.

His stomach felt weak, everything felt weak, but Itachi paid that all no mind. He pulled himself to slowly sit up, and something fell into his lap from off of his head. He hadn't even noticed it was there.

Carefully, with long fingers, he reached down and felt in his lap for the object. He found it almost right away, and it was very cold. It was a piece of long metal bound to a soft but worn piece of cloth. He brushed the tips of his fingers along the metal carefully. He felt out a long slash, then a swirl symbol with two different types of tips coming of different ends. When he traced it careful enough, it felt kind of like a leaf.

Itachi wondered quietly why he had such an odd thing sitting on his head like that. He didn't really recognize it, but it must belong to him.

Then again, who was he? Itachi. He knew that much. He knew his first name. He wondered what his last name must be. He didn't know it. Did he have one?

Now that he was sitting up, he could feel hair on his face. He reached up a hand to feel at his long bangs, then to the back. It was dirty and a little greasy, but he didn't care. It was long, and a small band held most of it behind his head in a low ponytail. He felt his face after he carefully touched at his hair. There were deep lines underneath his eyes, trailing down his face. He had long eyelashes from the feel of it. There was some kind of dried stuff on his chin, trailing from his lips.

That's when he realized what that smell and taste were.

"Blood..." he wondered quietly, his voice a deadened whisper. It was achy and scratchy, but it was a calm voice. On the deep side, too.

His stomach was starting to hurt, and he felt extremely thirsty. His eyes were still black, and he guessed that was just the way they had to stay. It scared him to no end, but he had to try to leave here and find food or water. Somehow.

He tied his special metal band around his waist instead of his forehead and slowly stood up. His legs were really shaky, and he had nearly no balance. If he was in the middle of a forest, how would he get out? There were many different things in forests. Creatures, plants, and sometimes people.

Figuring he'd be less weird looking with his eyes closed, he tried hard to just keep them that way. But they wouldn't stay closed. He wanted to keep them open all the time, like he had sight. Like he was hoping it would just spontaneously come to him. But he knew it wouldn't.

He didn't really have time to be fussy over something like this. He had to start moving, start looking, something. Itachi took a few wobbly steps forward. Every time he took a step, he froze, carefully analyzing the sounds that came from his step. It was mostly just crunching leaves. His breathing was heavy now. He was starting to feel fearful, but he had an unusually strong urge to keep it repressed and trudge forward.

He decided in the end to follow his gut. Itachi breathed in a deep breath, then began walking again. Not even ten steps away from where he had awoken, Itachi hit a tree. With his foot, then his face. He could've stopped, but he felt so disoriented and uneasy. He was very weak, and he needed to find food of some sort. He took caution to feel around the tree with his hands. It was a very large tree. Nothing too special about it. He reached up to see if he could grab a branch, and found one. He felt it carefully, weighing it's strength and how well it was latched on the tree. It appeared frail. Even so, it took a lot of effort for him to rip it off the tree. When it finally came off, Itachi fell back onto his back with the branch on him. He sat up feeling a little pathetic. He proceeded to rip excess smaller branches off of his big branch until it was just a bare stick.

Itachi grabbed onto the tree for support, then hoisted himself up off the ground again. He used the stick as his eyes, tapping it on the ground around him to feel for anything that may get in his way. He wasn't good at this, and he felt kind of foolish as well. This didn't feel right, but he had no choice.

He didn't know where he was going, nor did he care. He maneuvered around anything he found in his path with caution. He tried to be as quiet as possible, but that was even harder than using the stick to see. He didn't know where he was. He began to feel slowly frightened of what the surroundings might look like. What if he fell into water? What would he do? What if he was on some forest-ridden mountain side and fell of some gargantuan cliff?

"Don't be a fool." Itachi mumbled to himself, feeling frustrated with his fear. He didn't like the way it felt in him, the way it bore into his soul and rooted itself there to terrify him further. He knew he had to be strong and just keep moving.

And he wandered very aimlessly for a while. As he walked, he wondered what time it was or how old he was. What he had done. Who he was really, and why he acted the way he did. He was very defensive of himself and his sanity. He wondered if that was normal.

A strong smell suddenly filled Itachi's nose, and he started to gag a little. It was a foul, rotting smell that was coming from up ahead. It got closer as Itachi walked. His stick hit something unlike anything it had hit before. The things on the floor of the forest were all hard. This was somewhat squishy. He felt the thing up with the stick. He found a head, with large hard things attached to it's head. He felt down the body, which was torn open and obviously rotting. He guessed it was a dead deer or moose. Well, deer, most likely. Those hard things were more like antlers on a buck.

What scared Itachi the most about this was that it didn't bother him so much. He felt like it should have scared him, but it didn't. He didn't mind it, even. He just felt his way around it and kept on moving.

Time passed. Itachi felt like he had been walking for hours. What if he was walking in circles? What if he was back where he started? His legs were already aching, and he felt so weak. But he did not even think of giving up on this pointless quest for life. He didn't want to die alone in this forest, where a carnivore was out there hunting deer, and would probably come to eat him if he collapsed or stopped.

The forest was slowly driving him crazy. The stick touched the same things repeatedly. Trees, roots, plants. The same feeling. He couldn't take it. His fear was bubbling up again, but he tried not to let it consume him.

His foot crunched on something at that moment. Itachi stopped, using the stick to feel at the ground in front of him. It was a distinct sound of gravel. He walked further along it until he found where the gravel ended on the other side. He'd found a road of gravel and packed dirt. A road meant life of some sort. Where there was human life, there was food and water.

He almost wanted to laugh out loud. In fact, he needed to. But he didn't. He didn't even smile. He was confusing himself really. He just started following the trail in one direction, not sure where he was going, but happy nonetheless.

Not long after he began his walk, he heard voices up ahead. It sounded like an older man and a young girl. It sounded like they had some kind of cart with them. He understood what they were saying. They were talking about what they were going to have for lunch, when the noise suddenly stopped. It sounded like they stopped the cart, and were keeping quiet. Had they noticed him coming? He didn't know how he looked, but he prayed they would help him.

"Is... somebody there?" Itachi tried his best to speak, and it worked for the most part. His voice was a little more clear.

"My goodness!" it was the voice of an older sounding woman that time.

There was a scrambling of feet towards him, and he tried not to be afraid, even if they weren't right there in front of him. He was hopeful they would help him. He hoped they were kind. Then again, if he woke up in a forest blind, how lucky _was_ he?

"Oh my!" that was the older sounding man that time, Itachi could tell. "Get a blanket dear! This boy looks hurt! My boy, are you alright?"

Itachi felt a strong hand set itself on his shoulder, and he felt a little relieved. It was a strong hand too. It seemed like this man was tall.

"What's the stick for? Can't you see, boy?" the man's voice was unusually loud in Itachi's ear, but he felt comforted by someone at least talking to him. "You've got dried blood on ya! Are you alright there boy?"

"No..." Itachi mumbled in such a quiet voice he could barely hear himself.

He heard two other pairs of feet approach him, and he felt somebody throwing a light blanket over his shoulders. He felt a small hand sneak it's way into his large, weak one.

"Is he coming with us Grandma?" it was a little girl's voice. She was next to him, at his hip.

"Yes, yes. We need to get him to the village." the old woman spoke, taking Itachi's other hand. It was a very warm hand, and the comfort he felt from it was immense. The man took his hand off of his shoulder, and let the woman and girl lead Itachi. He wondered if he had any family. If he did, would they be half as sweet as these people?

"Reach out with your hand dear. You can ride in our supply cart." the woman's voice was kind, but Itachi didn't smile. He wasn't sure why.

He reached out as told and felt the sturdy wood of the cart under his fingers. He felt for the edge, then hopped up to sit on it, the woman making a satisfied noise.

"Can I ride with him? I've been walking all day Grandma!" the little girl's steps on the ground were very askew. She was obviously still very small, and was probably jumped around or wiggling around to show she was tired. Something eccentric. Little children were good at that.

"Alright. Hold onto him so you don't fall. We don't need another broken leg from you, little miss."

Itachi listened to the woman heave the little girl up off the ground and onto the cart next to him. He set his stick on the other side of himself, happy to not have to hold it. The little girl clung to his arm tightly, and it sounded like she was giggling.

"Hold on now." the old man called to them, and suddenly the cart was heaved up from the front and was rolling along. It scared Itachi pretty bad, but he snapped out of it soon enough. He didn't have to walk anymore. He got to ride in a cart with a small girl giggling and running around in it. It was covered and had tall walls, Itachi found as he explored with her a little. He felt up the walls until he felt the cloth at the top over their heads.

The girl entertained herself with different things in the cart. There were multiple barrels and boxes, and she had fun climbing inside them and asking Itachi to find her.

"But I can't see." Itachi said, and was surprised how emotionless his voice sounded just then.

She ignored this, however. "You don't need to see to play!"

Itachi sighed, slowly crawling over and reaching out to touch anything that came in his way. This was really difficult, since the cart was moving. He finally found the barrels and began opening up the lids and reaching inside. She had hidden herself all the way in the back of the cart in the last barrel, Itachi found. He found her when he reached in and felt a head of hair. She squealed happily as he picked her up and pulled her out of the barrel.

"Gah..." he mumbled, brushing grains of rice out of her hair and off her clothes. She just continued to giggle all the while, which made him smile. Finally. Her hair was long and straight, but put up in pigtails. She was very small, wearing a little dress and some open-toed shoes. She was cute. He didn't need to look at her to know that.

"See, you don't need to see to play!" she giggled in a very overjoyed way.

"You're right. Let's not play in the goods anymore, okay?" all this talking was wearing Itachi out. Little kids needed so much supervision, which he couldn't exactly do right.

"Okay, fine." she was very well-mannered, at least.

They sat again at the back edge of the wagon. Itachi let his legs hang off lazily. He kept a hand on the girl's head to make sure he knew where she was.

The ride was very long, according to the woman. Itachi could tell it was nighttime now, because it was cold, and there was no warmth coming from the sky anywhere.

"There are blankets and pillows in the back. Sweetie, show him. You both get some sleep." she advised sweetly.

The girl jumped to her feet next to Itachi. She had been braiding his hair at that moment.

"O-kaaaay!" she hollered, and he heard her wobbly footsteps as she ran to the back to the wagon.

After a lot of noise and rustling items, she came back to him, blankets and pillows in hand. She dropped them all at the back of the wagon, grabbing his hand and leading him slowly back there. The wagon wasn't very comfortable to lay on, but with enough blankets and pillows and a little girl sleeping next to him, Itachi found it easy to relax. He stared up through a hole in the covering in the wagon. He couldn't really stare though, because he couldn't see. He guessed it was a hole, because it was blowing cold air down on his face.

Itachi knew there were stars up there. He just knew it. He wished with all his might that he could see them, but it was all just black. It made him feel kind of lonely in a way. He was locked in his own head, only seeing the black. Was this permanent? What did he possibly do to have this happen, and why couldn't he even remember his own name? The more he thought on it, the more afraid he felt. He decided sleep would be better. Maybe he'd wake up and this would be a dream. That'd be a blessing.

"Goodnight." Itachi whispered quietly, not to the girl though. He wasn't sure why he said it, but he just did. Maybe once upon a time he had somebody to say goodnight to every night.

* * *

Well, this is a new fic I'm starting. My other fic, about Kisame, will be a main priority for now. But this was inspired by a song called Tina's Theme by Hyadain. I just had to write it. I hope you like it! Please comment and tell me if I should keep it going. Also, if you wanna see anything happen to Itachi, then ask! ( (c) Masashi Kishimoto)


	2. Chapter 2

'_Everything was lighting up suddenly. He could open his eyes, but all he could see was white. It wasn't pure white though. It was a thick mist. He didn't breathe, because it felt unnecessary. It was a weird feeling, not being able or wanting to breathe, but living on anyways._

_ Something, a huge form, was coming towards Itachi through the smoke. He could see it's black outline, and it scared him. Somehow, though, it felt familiar. As the form came closer, Itachi could tell he wasn't blind. It was a very tall man, Itachi could tell. The tall man stopped a good way away from Itachi, but the feeling Itachi was getting was a happy feeling._

_ "Itachi-san, really..." the voice was big and powerful, and very rough. "Of all the things you could have done, why erase everything like that? You're a little too smart for that, I'm sure."_

_ "Who's there?" Itachi called, and his voice wasn't quaking like before. He could speak at full volume, and his throat didn't feel raw._

_ "It's a shame to say you wouldn't know me because of what you did." the voice spoke in a very thoughtful rhythm, but it was casual and friendly at the same time. "But you and I were partners. Friends, even."_

_ Itachi thought hard about what this man was saying. Through the fog, he could see patches of blue skin. He felt like he should feel weird about it, but he didn't._

_ "How much do you remember, Itachi-san?" the man came even closer, but as hard as Itachi tried, he couldn't see his face or any of his details. Like they were blurred, and no matter how many steps he took forward, it didn't help. The man stayed the same distance away._

_ "I... don't know." Itachi mumbled, trying as hard as he could to reach out for the blue person in the fog, but to no avail. It was starting to drive Itachi up a wall._

_ "What a damn shame." the person actually laughed, "I'm sure you'll figure yourself out eventually. Maybe we'll meet again someday then."_

_ The person turned and began to walk away, fade, and Itachi began to feel panicked. _

_ "Wait! Please!" he tried desperately to reach out and grab for the blue person, but as far as he ran and could reach, it wasn't enough. _

_ Soon, Itachi was running through thick white fog, all alone. No blue person, and nothing else there. Just white.'_

* * *

"Wake up! Oh, please, dear, just wake up!!"

Itachi openned his eyes wide, but there was nothing. No smoke, no blue man, just black. He was breathing a little harder than normally, and he felt very warm.

"Oh, thank god." he heard the old man say, sounding extremely relieved. "We thought you weren't going to wake up, boy!"

"Oh, what a relief..." the woman sighed, and Itachi felt her breathe on his face. He felt her place a damp rag on his face, wiping it off.

Itachi didn't have any desire to move right now. The foggy image of the blueish person was stuck in his brain. He didn't recall ever remembering dreams, if he had ever had them before.

"Dear? Are you alright?" the woman cooed at him like a child, and Itachi felt like going on the defensive. He remembered where he was supposed to be, but he didn't know if he was still there.

"Where... are we?" Itachi choked over almost every word, forgetting that his voice was messed up. It hurt too.

"We're in town, sweat heart. We brought you into our house, since you were still sleeping when we arrived. You've slept for a long time. Did you have a bad dream?"

Itachi thought about that. Would these people know of a blue man? It was highly unlikely.

"...Yeah. Bad dream is all." Itachi muttered quietly, and felt his surroundings out with his hands. He felt the woman's knee next to him on a cozy bed. The man was probably standing above the bed.

He heard small footsteps enter the room, and felt someone small come up onto the bed and practically tackle him, even though he was laying down. It was the little girl, he could tell.

"Oh, sweetie, don't choke him..."

"It's okay Grandma." she giggled, and Itachi could smell the little girl's bubblegum toothpaste. "I'm so glad you woke up! The doctor's coming to see you soon!"

"Doctor?" Itachi mumbled, but shut up when he felt his stomach gurgle. He hadn't eaten, and he was extremely thirsty.

"I heard that." the woman chuckled, and a pair of large footsteps left the room, followed by the woman's lighter one's. "I'll go get you some food and drink dear. You must be starving."

Itachi was slow to sit up, since he felt so sore. The little girl sat in his lap, and he put a gentle hand on her head. Why not ask her if she had ever seen anyone that was blue?

"Hey, I've got a question for you." Itachi tried his hardest to smile, because it was hard to do for some reason. "Have you ever seen other people, like your Grandparents, when you dream?"

"Huh? Yeah. Mostly my mom though." Itachi felt her nod and bounce around a little. "Why?"

"Well, don't tell anyone, but I had a bad dream about someone. I couldn't see the person well, but they knew me. Have you ever seen anyone in your dreams with blue skin or anything weird of the sort?"

What an odd question to be asking a kid. But Itachi didn't care at this point. He needed to talk to somebody, at least.

"Yeah!" she blurted, shivering a little. "I had a dream about an evil blue man from the paper daddy showed me! He was big and ugly and smelled like a big fish!"

Itachi sighed lightly, but tried to keep the smile on his face. She was probably not talking about he same thing he was. The man wasn't a fish, he was just blue.

"Some dreams are scary, but waking up always makes them better!" she giggled, hugging tightly to his waist. He pat her head lightly, thinking about that.

_'That's not always the truth though. Sometimes waking up can be worse.' _he thought solemnly, and after a few moments felt shocked with himself. He had noticed that he had problems thinking on the positive sides of things.

Itachi got to spend the day in the living room of the house after he ate some food and drank a bunch of water. He wasn't able to eat a lot, but he ate as much as he could. He had crashed into a few walls already today, because the little girl wasn't very good at leading him around. But it was a nice big house from what he could tell. The Grandparents apparently lived in some small town in the Land of Fire.

"Land of Fire?" Itachi questioned curiously, sitting in one of the cozy armchairs with the girl in his lap again.

"Yes, the Land of Fire. Do you not know the different Lands, boy?" the old man was smoking a pipe, Itachi could smell. "Speaking of which, what is your name and where do you come from? You were out wandering the road rather aimlessly."

"Um... My name's Itachi... and I don't know where I'm from."

Itachi could feel the critical eyes of the man on him, and he just tired to avoid it.

"Then how'd you get out on that road, boy?"

"I woke up in the middle of the forest, and I couldn't see." Itachi sighed, feeling a little stressed.

"So, you have no idea who you are, and you weren't blind until now?" the old man prodded further, but Itachi gave him credit for figuring it out so quickly.

"Yeah, I guess.... I don't know."

The awkward silence after that didn't last long, because the little girl screamed loudly when her favorite show came on the small radio in the living room. This family didn't have a television, and enjoyed nights by the radio instead, said the old woman.

Well into the evening, after a big dinner, the old woman answered the front door to a very serious sounding man.

"Well, doctor, this is your patient. His name's Itachi, and he can't remember anything. He's also blind. We found him wandering on the road." the woman explained, and before Itachi could even open his mouth to speak, the doctor grabbed his face and tilted it up.

"Open your eyes." he commanded, and Itachi felt slightly annoyed by his attitude. Even so, he listened, and opened his eyes for the doctor to examine.

After a little bit of examination, the doctor let go of his face.

"Is there a room I could use for a thorough exam? I'm afraid he may have wounds."

Itachi felt awkward alone in this room with the rude doctor. The door was closed behind him and locked, so the little girl wouldn't come running in.

"I need you to take off your clothes." the man said, and Itachi felt his eyes turn off of him. It sounded like he had just opened some kind of case. While the doctor was turned, Itachi felt at his clothes. He never figured what kind of clothes he was wearing. He was in a plain shirt and pants, really, so they came off easy. He wasn't sure whether to leave underclothes on or not, so he left them.

"Please, sit." the doctor helped him to sit on a bed. They were in the guest bedroom Itachi had slept in.

The doctor brushed a hand over Itachi's left arm with a sigh.

"ANBU Black Opps, huh? How does somebody forget that?" the doctor sounded suspicious, and it made Itachi nervous.

"ANBU?" Itachi felt a little confused. How did this guy know he was in a thing called ANBU?

"Yes, of the Hidden Leaf Village. The village guards, in other words. Very prominent shinobi, you see. Don't you recall?"

"Shinobi...?" Itachi mumbled in disbelief. He was a top-rate shinobi, then? From a place called Konoha?

"I think you _have_ lost your marble then." the man chuckled, almost in disbelief himself. Itachi sounded pretty out of it, you see.

"Don't rub it in." Itachi grumbled, as the man rubbed alcohol on some wounds Itachi had. "But, how did you know I was part of something like that?"

"The tattoo on your left shoulder is the tattoo all Konoha ANBU Black Opps are required to get. Yours looks old, though."

Itachi reached up and felt his left arm with his right hand. It took a while to feel it, but he found the swirly outlines of the tattoo.

"I didn't even know..."

The doctor continued to heal several wounds, until he nearly back to full health. Itachi felt thankful, and didn't feel so much pain anymore. Also, the doctor concluded Itachi was at least twenty years old, had a height of five-foot-eight, and was pretty underweight.

"You're ill, Itachi." the doctor told him, and Itachi looked a little confused.

"I feel fine."

"Only because it's become a normal thing in your life. All the blood on your face was blood that came up from your lungs and maybe even stomach. You've probably had this illness since birth."

"What about my eyes, doctor?" Itachi didn't know why he blurted it so suddenly. Maybe because he was scared of never seeing again.

"There's nothing I can do. Your eyes.... I've never seen anything like them." the doctor made Itachi open his eyes again, and examined them.

"What do you mean?" Itachi was starting to feel extremely confused. "My eyes..."

"They appear abnormal. Probably eyes from a special clan. They're probably a dead kekkei genkai."

He wasn't sure why, but Itachi knew what a kekkei genkai was. What clan was he from though?

"That's all I can do for you." the doctor said to him, patting his shoulder. "You were obviously a great shinobi before you lost your memory. I'm not sure how you lost it, because you never hit your head. But you need to find someone who will train you to see without your eyes."

"See without my eyes?" Itachi mumbled in solid disbelief, but it faded after a while. If he was a shinobi, he would be able to find out where he came from. Maybe even how to retrieve his memory.

The doctor left soon after, giving the family Itachi's information. When he was gone, Itachi went right to sitting and being quiet. The family obviously wanted to ask a lot of questions, but Itachi didn't know how to answer them, so it was useless.

* * *

It was cold that night, and not a good night to wake up and not get back to sleep. Itachi had a horrible feeling stuck in his head, and wasn't sure what it was. It was familiar, though. He wished it wasn't. It was an eerie sense, like something bad was coming.

Determined to find it's cause, Itachi got up out of his bed and felt his way to a window. As cold as it was, he opened up the window. A gust of cold wind swept passed him, through his clean hair, into his lungs. It was more refreshing than he thought it would be. He still had a bad feeling, but he didn't know how to go about finding it. He was blind. If he left the house, he wouldn't be able to find his way back.

Well, maybe that's what he needed to do. The doctor said he needed to find someone to train him how to 'see without eyes' or whatever. How hard would that be?

He thought about the blue man again. He said that they were partners and friends. He was a shinobi too, then.

No matter what Itachi thought, he couldn't put his bad feeling to rest. That is, until something hit him in the head.

Felt like a small pebble. It hit him in the forehead from outside the window. Then another one.

"Pssssssst."

Itachi listened to the voice carefully. He thought he recognized it.

"Who's there?" Itachi whispered out the window, sticking his head out into the breeze.

"Guess!" the voice sounded bouncy and happy, but it was male. In fact, the voice sounded older. In fact, the voice sounded fake.

"That's a fake voice you're using. How can I tell who you are when you're not using your own voice?" Itachi retorted in slight annoyance.

"Oh, you're good." the man laughed a little, but his voice didn't change. "You wouldn't know me even if I changed it back."

Itachi didn't like this guy, whoever he was. He was very annoying, in a fake asshole kind of way.

"What do you want, and who the hell are you?" Itachi whispered hoarsely at the man in frustration.

"Well, Itachi, I'm your former sensei."

Itachi froze on the spot. Former sensei? This guy taught him, then? Probably had to do with him formerly being a shinobi.

"I'm Tobi, by the way. I'm glad I found you!"

Itachi was pushed to the side as the man came in through the window. It scared Itachi somewhat, because one second his voice was down on the ground, two stories down, and now he was inside his room.

"H-Hey..." Itachi mumbled, listening to the guy as he wandered the room. "How did you...?"

"It's not important right now." Tobi said calmly, his voice deepening drastically. So this was his real voice? "What's important is your situation."

"What do you want then?" Itachi sat himself on his bed again carefully, trying hard to keep good track of where the guy was in his room.

"I want to help you out." Tobi was fiddling with something in the room, but Itachi couldn't tell what. "You've finally gone blind. That kind of sucks, right? Especially since your memory's gone down the toilet too. You know who you are right?"

"Kind of." Itachi mumbled. This guy sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

"Well, you're Uchiha Itachi."

"Uchiha?" Itachi sure as hell recognized that name.

"Yes, but don't tell anybody else. Even your new little family. They'll kill you. And don't ask why."

"I don't get it." Itachi grumbled, feeling a headache coming on. "Why are you here then?"

"Not to kill you, I promise." Tobi snorted a little, and it made Itachi feel very frustrated. "I'm here to wish you a happy twenty-first birthday, and give you the name of someone who can train you."

"A happy... birthday?" Itachi was ultimately puzzled.

"Well, a happy _late_ birthday. Your birthday was yesterday, June 9. Anyways, I want to see how strong a blind Uchiha can get. I've never seen this before, and it should be interesting."

"Interesting...? You-"

The wind in the room whipped about, and the presence, and bad feeling, were both gone at once. Cold air blew into the room, and made Itachi shiver. His confusion was mounting, but he just wanted to sleep. This was too much for him.

As he stepped over to the window, a piece of paper crunched under his foot. Itachi reached down to pick it up. It was an envelope. The seal on it was in the shape of a small uchiwa fan. He openned it up carefully, and pulled out a small piece of paper. He felt over the writing with his fingers. It was hard to decipher, but he felt he could get used to it.

_**Find Kakashi Hatake**_

_**Let nobody know your real name. Disguise yourself, they'll know you by your looks**_

_**Happy Birthday**_

Itachi had no idea in the world who this 'Kakashi Hatake' was, but he felt relived. Maybe he could get some help and find out what the hell is going on.

When he went back over to the window and stuck his head out, he felt snowflakes on his face. It was so refreshing, and it comforted his racing mind. He wished he could see what it looked like. It would be beautiful.

* * *

Is it just me who has a bad habit of spelling 'opened' with two n's all the time? Gosh. Anyways, please review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D ( (c) Masashi Kishimoto)


	3. Chapter 3

Itachi was surprised how well the family took the fact that he had to leave, and on such short notice. They even gave him a travelers bag full of the essentials he'd need if he was to be going out on his own.

"You feel this pocket?" the old man had Itachi's hand, and was guiding it around to all the pockets and items in the bag. "It's full of kunai and shuriken. It's for your defense. I'm sure you know how to throw them, since you were a shinobi."

Itachi unclipped the pouch and reached in. He found the clinking handles and edges of the metal weapons, but retracted his hand somewhat quickly. He didn't like the feel of those weapons in his hands.

"Dear, are you sure you're going to be alright on your own out there? You can't even see." the woman sounded worried, putting a hand on Itachi's shoulder.

"Dear, he has the map I gave him. He can feel his way around, I'm sure." the old man reassured, but he was obviously bad at it.

"I'll be alright, ma'am. This experience will be good for me." Itachi tried his hardest to offer a sincere smile to her. He wasn't sure if his smiles looked real or fake though.

"Well... Alright then. Just be careful. Do come and visit again someday, won't you?" she reached down and wrapped her arms around him, which made him feel a little awkward, but he allowed it.

"I'll try."

"Stop smothering him, dear." the old man sighed, and the woman let Itachi go. "Remember where the village of Konoha is on your map. Wandering in there by sheer accident probably won't go down well for you."

"I understand." Itachi sighed as he pulled the bag onto his shoulders. He was confident of himself. It was getting easier to sense where buildings and people were. He felt the only problem he might have at this point was his sense of direction. He had the map with him, and a few mistakes wouldn't matter to him. He needed to learn.

"Here, here!" he heard the little girl come up next to him and grab his wrist. She was trying to put something on it. "It's my bracelet. It's good luck!"

Itachi reached down with his other hand to feel at it. It was a very simple little girl's bracelet, with a small metal-feeling heart charm on it. He was surprised it fit around his wrist so well. The doctor had said Itachi had been slightly underweight because of his illness...

"Thank you." Itachi reached then to pat her head. She giggled, but he could hear the sadness in her voice. She was going to miss him.

Walking out the door of the house wasn't very easy, and it started to weigh on Itachi conscience. He threw the black cloak he had been given around himself, tying it in the front and throwing the hood over his head. He could sense many different chakra signatures all around him. He figured if he was going to do this, he was probably going to have to become a sensor or something.

Maneuvering through the town actually wasn't too hard. He just followed the directions the old man had given him, and tried his best not to run into too many people. When Itachi's feet began to hit loose dirt and small rocks, he knew he was on his path. Navigating would become so difficult, he wondered if he was really ready for this. What would this Konoha place be like? The family had told him it would be very big. Not only that, but there were bandits and thieves running rampant in the forests.

Itachi didn't have much money, but he knew he would be an easy target nonetheless. Fear was welling in Itachi's gut. He hoped he wouldn't get lost all alone in the forest again. He'd probably go crazy. Somehow, for some reason, that made Itachi want to laugh. Irony of some sort?

Walking the path was tedious. He spent his time trying to sense the different things. There were chakra signatures everywhere, and they were all nearly the same. Nature, go figure. He tried to tell the difference between and tree and a bush, but it just gave him a headache the longer he tried to decipher between the two. When people passed, he tried to decipher between them and the trees. A little easier, but in the end it was just another headache. How in the world was he going to do this?

He walked almost all day. He was surprised how he was never really hungry, and he guessed it was his illness. He ate small things throughout the day, but nothing big. He knew he was at a motel as noise around him increased, which meant more people. He felt like a bit of a fool, but he ended up asking another traveler to lead him up to the hotel.

"Tch. It's right there, you know. You an idiot or something?" the man scoffed at him, and Itachi kept his face like stone. If not, he would've given him one hell of a glare. He could hear some other people chuckling.

"I can't _see_ it." Itachi almost spat at the man, but his voice came out in just a cold, unhappy tone. "I'm _blind_. So if you would be so kind as to show me where the damn _door_ is, I'd surely be grateful."

The chuckles settled down after that, and Itachi felt the air around him become awkward. Well, that's what the bastard gets for judging people.

"Oh, yeah, sure. Sorry." the man grumbled, and led Itachi along in an awkward state. Itachi couldn't believe how insensitive this guy was. Did he think he was being tough or cool or something by insulting someone who came asking for help? Ridiculous.

Once at the door, Itachi didn't even bother to say a thank you. He shoved past the large man into the motel, rather annoyed. Once inside, there was a good bit of noise. This place probably doubled as a bar, if Itachi knew the noise of a pub well enough. He found the front desk easily, and the woman there was kind to him, but in kind of a slutty manner.

"Hi there handsome." she cooed at him, "What can I do for you tonight?"

"I just need a room." he muttered, feeling a little awkward as a pair of singing drunks stumbled past him, probably on the way to the same room.

"Nothing else, dear?" she was implying something, and Itachi quickly shook his head no. A firm no. "Alright then, your loss."

With the key to his room in hand, Itachi shoved past many people to get upstairs. How ridiculous. He found his room, and locked himself in. The room was at least somewhat quiet. Itachi threw his stuff on the floor grumbling, found the bed, and got into it. It smelled funny, but he tried to ignore it.

It was hard for him to sleep that night. He was starting to feel a little lonely. Locked in his own head. Who did he have before this all happened? Why were his own emotions so confusing and bouncy? Wasn't he supposed to at least know himself? He was twenty-one, right? Sleep caught hold of him finally, but it wasn't a pleasant one.

* * *

Sleep left him when his alarm went off. The couple had given him a preset alarm clock, and showed him which button did what to turn it off and on. Itachi didn't want to risk getting time confused, since he already couldn't see. The first thing he did that morning was smack into the bathroom door. It irritated him so much he almost broke it down. Luckily, he found he was a somewhat patient and tolerant person.

Itachi took a blind shower, which proved to be one of the most vexing things he had ever done. It's like nothing was working well for him so far today. He almost slipped and fell as he got out, and hit his knee on the ceramic sink.

He took in a desperately deep breath, gripping at the sink with wet hands.

_'Just calm down. It's okay... It'll get better.'_ he tried to reassure himself as he got ready for the day. He was quick to leave the motel after that, and was surprised that he knew right where to go. He was already on the path to Konoha again. And it was starting to feel more and more familiar.

And to make his day worse, half-way through it, he was firmly stopped. Itachi figured he'd just been spacing out, kind of on auto-pilot. That's why he didn't notice the man come up in front of him, and nearly four others surrounding him.

"Hi there." the guy chuckled, tapping a finger at the hood to Itachi's cloak. Itachi knew this would be trouble. "Where you heading?"

"None of your business." Itachi spat, but he didn't really know where it came from. He instantly thought of the blue man.

"Gah. I don't really like that tone." the guy shoved Itachi back a foot or two, almost into another of the guys. "Why don't you be cooperative and pay the toll? You can't pass unless you give us some money."

Well, bandits are surely better than thieves. This little leader guy sounded like a fool, or at least Itachi thought he did. He decided to stay quiet for now. He needed to think of a good way out of this situation. He wanted to reach back into the pocket of weapons, but that's a little too obvious. Plus, even if he had a weapon, he couldn't just throw it and expect it to hit dead-on. Not to mention, there were five of them, and one of his dumb, blind ass.

"Well? You gonna pay up, or are we gonna have to get messy here?" the guy spat in Itachi's face. The others were closing in on him too, and chuckling. He could hear each of them. They all sounded....

That's when Itachi got the idea. They were being so loud.

"Alright, alright." Itachi mumbled, and he heard some of them laugh harder. "I'll give you your damn money if you get out of my face."

"Good enough for me!" the man laughed. They knew he was blind, Itachi was sure of it. But they were laughing and chatting like the idiots they were. That was target enough for anyone.

Itachi reached back into his bag, pretending to feel at the pockets. He knew where everything was, but acting like he didn't know where his money bag was was a good way to kind of stall for time. He wasn't confident he knew how to throw these things, but something told him he'd do fine.

Quickly, he reached into the pocket of weapons, He gripped three kunai in his fingers, and thoughtlessly flung them in a spray pattern in front of him, where three of the men were. It was a harsh scramble from there. Men yelling and charging at Itachi. Yelling.

One guy came up at Itachi's side. Itachi wasn't even thinking. It was some odd instinct driving him now. He turned quickly and kicked the bandit dead-on in the face. He heard him grunt and fly back. Itachi was caught around the neck by a strong arm, and another man came up to punch him. Instinctively, Itachi raised his hands up and locked them together, two fingers of each hand up. He disappeared then, no arm around his throat or anything. He guessed he appeared a small distance away, because he heard them charging at him again.

Before he could even come up with a plan, a powerful voice filled his ears. It was... kind of familiar, but it wasn't a voice he thought he'd like to hear all the time.

"_Dynamic ENTRYYY_!!" the powerful voice yelled, and Itachi heard the distinct noise of a powerful blow to exposed skin in front of him.

Itachi felt someone grab his arm, and reached back to grab a kunai, but the person only had him lightly by the arm.

"Are you alright?" the voice was soft, but male. "It's alright, we're here to help. We're nin from Konoha."

Something inside Itachi felt relieved, but something else felt panicked.

_"They'll know you by your looks."_

Itachi wrapped his cloak firmly around himself as he felt the male ninja stay by his side, a protective hand on his arm. He reached into his shirt and pulled the special neck of his shirt up over the bottom half of his face. He'd gotten the shirt yesterday, after remembering he couldn't really show his face. He'd forgotten about it until now. He felt lucky he had it.

He heard two other new voices, one a tough sounding girl, and another boy, who's voice resembled the first man. It sounded like a big fight, but it didn't last long. Soon, it was quiet. Itachi's heart was racing so fast he could hear it in his ears.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" he felt the other three people around him now. The voice talking was the first man he heard. He was obviously the oldest of this group. His voice was so unusual.

"Yes..." Itachi mumbled, feeling a soft hand take his to help him up.

"Are you hurt?" it was the girl's hand and voice. "Did they take any of your things?"

"N-No... I don't think so." he mumbled again, feeling another person brush him off. They were very kind, and it was relieving. "Thank you all."

"Of course!" the younger sounding man pipped up, pride and joy in his voice. "It is always a pleasure to help those that are in danger!"

"Where were you heading?" the soft-voiced man asked, his hand still on his arm.

"Konoha..."

"Well, good sir, since we are heading the same way, how about we go together?" the older man suggested, overly friendly, overly energetic sounding for his age.

"Thank god..." Itachi couldn't help but mutter, and he heard the team chuckle in the same relieved fashion. He could tell they knew he was blind too.

They hadn't walked long before he was asked his name by the girl of the team.

"I'm Tenten. Neji is walking on your other side. Rock Lee and Gai-sensei are ahead of you. What's your name?"

Itachi wasn't sure why he thought of such a name, but it was the first thing to smack him in the face.

"Shisui." he muttered, keeping his head mostly down. He'd said it confidently enough so it was believable, he hoped.

"So, Shisui, what business do you have in our lovely village? Do you live there?" Gai asked politely, and Itachi felt powerful eyes on him.

"I'm looking for somebody."

"Oh? Who?" Gai probed. He seemed like the type of guy who didn't mind popping space bubbles.

"Hatake Kakashi." Itachi was really hoping these people would help him. God, he could hear the ruckus of the large village already, and they weren't even there yet.

"Oh? My rival, huh?" Gai laughed enthusiastically, patting Itachi's shoulder briskly. "Why would you need to find him? I'm sure myself and my team might be able to help you out!"

Itachi felt some small relief, but again, this guy was a bubble popper.

"Uh, well, I kind of can't say my business. It's just between us."

"Oh, I see. Well, you know us now, so if you ever need anything in the future, you can just ask!" Gai jeered, patting Itachi's shoulder again.

The noise just seemed to escalate rapidly the closer they got, until Gai finally announced that they were at the front gates of the village.

"Do you need anything else?" Lee asked kindly, gripping Itachi's left hand, "It would be a pleasure!"

Itachi wasn't sure why, but the smell of the sakura plants and pine near where they stood was so familiar. He felt his tension kind of waft away. The voices he heard were kind, recognizable. For some reason, he felt like he was at home.

"No... I'll be fine now." Itachi sighed contently, "Thank you all so much. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come along."

With some small goodbyes, they were gone. Itachi could just imagine the great city in his head, with surprising detail. The tall, industrialized buildings, telephone lines with small Konoha flags hanging from them, the flocks of citizens and visitors alike, harmonizing in the center of the shopping district. The beautiful mountains in the background, rising above all the buildings, viewed best from the top of the Hokage's mansion.

Itachi stopped himself short. His mind suddenly popped with questions. That wasn't his imagination there. And also, he did things he thought he could never do back in the battle with the thugs.

Itachi lifted his hands up close to his face. He flexed his fingers in a strange way. He couldn't see them, but he felt suddenly scared. Those things he did, how did he know what to do? How did he know how to do that jutsu?

A warm breeze swept by Itachi as he stood there. He felt people brush by him, but he was in his own world, in his own head. He felt a dampness on his face, and reached up to touch it. They were tears, he could tell. The liquid was different from the blood he'd had on his face a few days ago. The Uchiha breathed in deeply, trying to relax himself. He'd forgotten he was standing in public.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" the voice was that of a kind sounding young man. In front of him, a little to the right. He sounded about twenty. "You've been standing here for a while, I noticed. Is something wrong, uh, ma'am?"

Itachi was surprised at the gender mix-up. He didn't try to look at the man, but he smiled nonetheless. Trivial things like that seemed to lift his mood.

"I'm... fine." he muttered, letting his hands drop to his sides. "Thank you, though. I guess... I'm just happy to be home again."

The man seemed to gasp slightly, probably realizing his mistake when he heard Itachi's deep voice.

"I-I'm sorry, sir, I didn't know..."

"Don't even think of it. It happens often." Itachi began to walk, wondering if that was a lie or not. Something in his gut told him it wasn't.

"Uh... Alright then, have a nice day!" the man called after him as Itachi began to navigate the crowds of people.

The Uchiha had unfortunate luck, bumping into many people, but they were kind when he told them he was sorry, and he was blind. The people here were so kind, it made Itachi's heart grow warmer and warmer.

He was caught off guard by some hands suddenly grabbing his.

"Excuse me sir!" the voice sounded like that of a boy fresh into his teenage years. His hands fit the profile, since the voice came from the same side as the hand. "We saw you bumping into people! Are you alright?"

"Yeah!" a girl squeaked next to him, the smaller hand in his other hand wiggling a little.

"I'm blind, you see..." Itachi mumbled, for the millionth time that day. "I'm looking for someone, but I'm not sure where to start."

"Well, no worries then! Team Konohamaru will help you out!" the boy, whom Itachi presumed to be Konohamaru, was very loud, and talked like he had a tooth missing.

"Who're you looking for?" the voice of another boy spoke up, in front of him. This boy actually sounded congested and tired.

"Hatake Kakashi. Do you all know him?" Itachi asked, as sweetly as he could. It wasn't hard. He'd noticed lately that he really did enjoy the company of children. They were so innocent, kind, and trusting. The little things they did or said were always unnecessarily cute.

"Yeah!" the loud one, Konohamaru, gasped, "He's big brother Naruto's sensei, huh!"

_'Naruto...?' _Itachi had heard that name. It was clearly familiar, but he couldn't put it to a face.

"So... You all will help me won't you?" Itachi asked, and before he even got a reply, he was being dragged along.

"Of course! We'll find him! You can count on us!"

Itachi sighed again in contentment. He was one step closer to finding out who he was. Now, more than ever before, he was thankful for kind people. He wondered why they were so hard to find. He had a feeling the blue man from his dreams was kind. He sounded kind, at least. Maybe Kakashi would know who that blue man was. Or tell him where he could find him.

The smell of dango filled Itachi's nose as they passed some giggling women.

* * *

_He's in Konoha now._ This is the** important** part, people. Please, in your review of this chapter, answer my question: Do you want romance in this or not? If so, what pair? I'm leaning on the yaoi side, here, but I need opinions! Romance could spice up the story in a way, but I want it to be the right kind of spice. Plus, he has no idea who he is. He could fall for almost anyone. If there's no support for it, then I'll just cry in a corner and leave it without romance. Anyways, I hope you guys liked this chapter! Team Gai for the win! ((c) Masashi Kishimoto)


	4. Chapter 4

_"You're so pathetic, but so lucky at the same time, you know."_

_ It was in Itachi's best interest to ignore this comment, this person, this... whatever it was. It whispered in his ear with a haunting tone, and tone dripping with such violent hatred that Itachi felt frozen. The world was white, and all he could remember in this instant was falling._

_ "You don't remember who you are... You're so unaware of all the people around you, the people that wanna kill you, heh."_

_ The voice was taunting him, and Itachi wanted to act on a reflex to turn and attack this person. His heart pounded uneasily as he felt a warm breath hit the side of his face, small blond hairs hanging loosely, and that was all he wanted to turn and see. He didn't want to move, in fact, he couldn't._

_ "I'd give anything to be you, you lucky bastard. You don't deserve this... At least you're ALIVE!", the voice spat angrily, suddenly drawing back away from the lost Uchiha, who couldn't even hear his footsteps. "I hope you get ripped apart."_

_ "The feeling's mutual," the words slipped past his lips unconsciously, but they felt right. He heard a small chuckle from the other being, male sounding._

_ "I know it is, hmm...." he chuckled, and finally Itachi saw him as he came in front of him, long blond locks partially covering a somewhat masculine face, which was grinning at him devilishly. The hatred reflected in those eyes astonished Itachi to no end. Although this man was a little shorter, the personality displayed in his face and voice was more then Itachi could ever think of mustering._

_ "Who are you?" Itachi instantly spoke up, the sudden rush to not feel afraid of such a creature flooding him, and he couldn't control his words. This definitely wasn't the blue man, who had been relatively kind, if you could call it that much. _

_ "I'm not all that important, especially not to you," the blond chuckled darkly, waving some of his hair out of his face. "I'm dead, after all."_

_ The thought thrown in his face was suddenly overwhelming, and he stood with an amazed look on his face. It disappeared within seconds, but the blond picked it up easily, and shook his head lightly._

_ "It's not something to be understood." he stated blandly, his face and features slowly becoming serious. "I'm here for one reason only, anyways. If you couldn't tell already, I hate you, so don't expect to see this dead guy around, hmm."_

_ Itachi slowly settled himself in a calm mindset. Staring this blond in the eyes was surprisingly easy, since he appeared not to be afraid. Then again, staring people in the eyes wasn't something he did often._

_ "I came here to give you a small tip-off, because I have a little bit of a beef with someone living, you hear me, hmm?" he started, crossing his arms, a sour, vengeful look on his face, but he tried staying serious. "It's about Tobi."_

_ The first thought in Itachi's mind was the cool breeze, and the feeling of the ink on his fingers. He rubbed them together briefly, before Deidara cleared his throat to get his attention again._

_ "This'll sound weird, I'm sure, especially to you, since you don't know shit for anything about anyone anymore." he snorted, his gaze turning into a glare. "Do not trust him, you understand me?"_

_ Itachi wasn't sure why, but something about this statement struck him as odd. "Why are you telling me this?"_

_ "He's a manipulative bastard. You used to hate him, I guess. And, surprisingly, this is the only thing you and I have in common, y'see?" again, blond hair brushed aside, his fingers twitching nervously. "Do not let him tell you what to do. Find someone else to help you, because if you let him lead you along, you'll end up like me and a lot of other people you used to know - dead."_

_ After a few moments, Itachi bit his lip, lowering his head. "Then, what am I supposed to do? I don't understand, why... Why do you hate him?"_

_ Itachi was surprised to see the blond get so ruffled up about that question. His brows furrowed and he twitched, turning away from Itachi's eyes uncomfortably. "It's none of your business! Just... listen to what I'm saying, okay? He's.... he's unpredictable. Tobi's not even his real name, for crying out loud! He's betrayed plenty of people, manipulated others... Don't let him suck you into his game like before. Nobody where I am wants to see that."_

_ "I... don't, uhm..." he began, but when he looked back up, the blond had stood and began walking again, which startled Itachi. However, he couldn't move._

_ The blond turned to face him again, probably for the last time, "You and I don't go back in a positive way, if you know what I mean, but I'm the only reliable source you'll have for this, because nobody living knows about this except those that are unreachable. Don't be an idiot, don't get lured into Akatsuki again. Fool!"_

_ "Wait! What's-" Itachi nearly yelled it, feeling a pit in his stomach as the blond walked away, just as the blue man had. As he slowly disappeared, the blond of his hair and the white of the clothing Itachi hadn't noticed before seemed to melt into the white that surrounded him._

_ What scared him the most was that it didn't leave. The white stayed as his mind slowly slowed down to capture his situation in full realization. How could he talk to someone who had died? How... did these people all know him, and each other? Why...?_

_ The white slowly morphed into a slow black and gray, and he felt himself falling as something brushed his cheek._

_

* * *

_

"What song is this?" were the words that slipped from his lips as they entered the outskirts of the Village. Itachi had plenty of trouble walking as it was, being blind, but inches of snow certainly didn't help.

"I'm not sure." the man in front of him, who had him by the arm, said quietly. It was a song that fell softly upon Itachi's ears from one of the nearby houses, he guessed. "C'mon, we're almost to the more rural area. Your guy will probably be somewhere around there, so don't get all distracted now."

This escort wasn't the kindest, but Itachi, as of this morning, didn't much care. His dream from the night before was as clear as day in his mind, and it was all he could really think about, to the point where he considered not going to see this Kakashi at all. If that man, the blond, was dead, then what was going on? How was it possible? Itachi's logical thinking had been pushed to the max, and he felt almost like a child, so uncaring as they walked, being brought along by the hand as he slowly began to realize the bigger world, and his current situation. And he was all alone in it. Except for some dead guy that appeared in his dreams? How could it even be?

"Right around the corner here..." the man's voice, slightly aggravated, said slowly. Itachi let a small smile curl his covered lips, and shivered a little. It was cold, for sure. The Land of Iron was very, very cold, but according to the things Itachi had heard, it was supposed to be very beautiful, with snow always falling. Not to mention it was a neutral country, in which shinobi could come and go as they pleased. Anyone could, in fact, and Itachi couldn't help but feel slightly comforted by this fact.

"What's this guy look like now?" the man asked, stopping them in their walking, and Itachi's attention finally fell on him.

"I wouldn't know." he chuckled, unable to help it, finding it quite humorous. Questions like this came up with him a lot, in fact, and it was very amusing after a while, especially feeling the embarrassment radiate from the person or people, especially this man, since this had been the third question of this sort to come up just today.

"Well, how did you go blind anyways?" he asked, trying to pass off his embarrassment quickly, but this actually didn't help. Itachi's chuckle faded, and his face slowly melded into a thoughtfully sad expression as he thought this over.

"I..." he mumbled softly, feeling snowflakes drop onto his head, his chest, and one even drifted slowly down to fall onto the tip of his nose, melting instantly. "I don't know."

He could feel how uncomfortable his guide got, and as he was led along again by the silent man, his thoughts raced even more. He still didn't have answers. Nothing besides a name, a former occupation, and some hints at a former self that actually scared him. How was he supposed to be normal when he didn't know what he was doing?

"Up ahead are some Konoha nin," the guide spoke up a few minutes later, stopping them. Itachi looked surprised, mildly, but his expression instantly molded back into emotionless. "Do you want to approach them from here on your own?"

"Yes... thank you." he said softly as the guide released his hand, wishing him a small good luck, before Itachi heard his trudging footsteps in the snow, away from him.

For a moment or two, he stood there quietly. His heart pounded a little faster, shivering again as he felt another snowflake drop onto his nose. He took a few steps forward, slowly hearing voices, light, but familiar. Well, one was familiar. He felt suddenly nervous and ashamed, and wasn't sure why, but halted in his tracks, shivering slowly, but not from the cold. Something about that voice almost scared him, but not in a fearful way.

"Excuse me sir, is there something you need?" the unfamiliar voice almost made Itachi jump, but it was one of the two voices he'd heard talking. He heard some shuffling in the snow, but nothing approaching him. "Are you alright?"

He felt the eyes on him now, and he took a deep breath. "I'm looking for a specific man, I was wondering if you could help me." he managed, his voice a deeper tone then usual on purpose.

"Who?" the familiar voice spoke, sounding confused, but ultimately friendly in nature. It made Itachi feel a little sick to his stomach.

"Kakashi Hatake." he said, trying to keep his voice calm, and was a little taken aback at the small noise he heard from one of the two.

"Who are you, and why would you need to see Kakashi-senpai?" the unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded a little defensive, and Itachi instantly took a large step back, unable to control how jumpy he was becoming. He wasn't so sure why this was so hard, but it was. Extremely.

It seemed his step back alerted the man that he was no danger. Not to mention, Itachi was purposely hanging his head very low.

"Yamato-sensei, lighten up a little." the other's voice was a little more calm instead of the overly friendly from before. Itachi felt someone take a step closer to him, and he held his ground. "Kakashi's my sensei, but he's not around right now. He'll be back in a little though."

Itachi felt a movement in front of him, and realized that the man had extended a hand to him, and heard a small sigh from the other. Carefully, he lifted his head, wishing he could see the man in front of him desperately, now more then ever.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," the man said kindly, and Itachi could feel the kindness pointed his way, and somehow, it was refreshing. "Don't mind Yamato-sensei. He's not very social."

Apprehensively, Itachi extended his hand, and kept himself from flinching as it was taken by a slightly smaller hand. He felt suddenly relaxed by the chakra he felt, and wondered how a boy could be so kind and welcoming to someone he'd just met.

"Shisui," he said softly, lifting his head a little more, but still keeping the hood down over his eyes for good measure.

* * *

Author's note? I think so! Thank you all so much for all the support this story has gotten! I know I haven't updated in a while. Things have had me occupied, as always. I know this is a short chapter, but another one should be up soon! Thanks so much for all the reviews, favorites, and watches and please continue to review and read, because it makes me so happy. Tell me what you think about it all!


	5. A Brief Note

A Note-

So, after a veryyyy long time I rediscovered this story. It's been around a year or something since my last update on this, which I absolutely hate thinking about.. My interest in Naruto kind of drifted because of the newer chapters (in my opinion they're not doing any justice to the way the story used to be... you'd expect the war scenes to be long and interesting, with new flavor, but I feel like they're rushed and trying to revert back to the older Naruto.. and it's not working. But that's my grumpy opinion, bah humbug, tis beside the point of why I'm posting this). Well, good news is,** I'm picking it back up**. There will be an update shortly, within the next few days if I'm lucky. When I do update it, this message will be removed and the new chapter will take it's place. Really sorry to keep you all waiting so long, hopefully those of you who are interested will keep reading, eheh.

I do love me some Itachi after all, and that won't really ever change, ha ha!

-Yusukeeeee


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